Snowplow



April 18, 0 A. o. WILLIAMSON 2,504,774

suowPr ow Filad Aug. 31, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Hal A Tron/vars SNOWPLOW Filed Aug. 51, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 a R R 0 E mm R +0 0 N E T M g N R 3 mm 31 s A m 0 R T uh QM L k m? A b b 0 NW. 0 M w a .n E E m E A P 1950 v A. o. WILLIAMSON 7 2,504,774

- SNDWPLOW Filed Aug. 31, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 CAB Jl/AFTAX/S I N V EN TOR. uflrc/msd W/zz/AMso/v I WW ATTanNs-Y 5|. These wings are mounted so as to extend outwardly and forwardly of the snow plow unit, as illustrated in Figure 3, and are utilized when the plow is used for gathering in a wide swath of snow of relatively small depth. The condition for which the extraordinary snow gathering wings are most useful is an airport clearing work where it is desired to clean the runway strips of snow at a high rate of speed with maximum clearing width. In many conditions the snowfall may be only a few inches or slightly more in depth. The total amount of snow which is gathered and removed is very large even though the depth is not very great. The snow gathering wings 5! and 5! are mounted upon a pair of vertical pivot slides 52 for wing 50 and 53 for wing 5!. The snow gathering wings 50 and 5| are similar right and left units and therefore only one need be described.

As shown in Figure 2 the slide 52 is attached to the moldboard of the main plow unit by upper and lower brackets 54. The slide 52 is preferably a rod or tube of circular cross section and it therefore not only serves as a slide but also as a pivotal mounting for the tubular sleeve 55. The sleeve 55 is attached by means of brackets 56 and 51 to the snow gathering wing 50 and hence the snow gathering wing 50 is capable of being rotated on the rod 52 in the manner of a hinge joint. The inner edge 58 of the snow gathering wing is shaped to fit the adjacent front side edge of the main snow plow moldboard so that when the wing 55 is in position shown in Figure 3, the snow flows along wing 50 in the direction of arrow 59 and thence onto the moldboard of the plow Ill and against the rotary snow-casting wheels I4 and H.

The position of the wing 50, as shown in Figure 3, is maintained bya toggle brace composed of links Eli and it which are hinged together at 62. The link 68 is pivotally attached to the snow gathering wing by means of the pivot bolt 64, and link 6! terminates in a tubular sleeve 65 which, like sleeve 55, is arranged to slide vertically upon a vertical slide rod, namely rod 66. The rod 66 is likewise supported from the main snow plow if] by means of a pair of brackets 5'! and 5B which are attached to the snow plow housing and suitably braced. From the toggle pivot 52 there extends a link 69 which is attached to the wing moldboard 50 by a suitable removable bolt 10, as illustrated in Figure 2. When the link 69 is in place the toggle 686i is hence prevented from moving from the angular arrangement shown in Figure 3, and hence a bracing force is transmitted from the vertical slide 66 through the sleeve 65, toggle link 6|, bolt 62, toggle til, bolt 84 to the snow gathering wing 50, which is accordingly held in place in the position shown in Figure 3. When it is desired to fold the snow gathering wing alongside the main snow plow Iii, the link 59 is removed or disconnected at one or the other of its ends, and the toggle EEl-6l then pivots about its toggle bolts 62 and folds to the dotted line position shown in Figure 4. This accordingly permits the snow gathering wing 59 to pivot on the vertical pivot rod 52, and it likewise assumes a position as shown in the dotted lines of Figure 4. It will also be noted that during this motion the toggle link Bl which terminates at sleeve 65, likewise simply pivots around the rod 60. The entire snow gathering wing and its toggle bracing arrangement accordingly folds backwardly against the side of the snow plow where it is out of the way and permits the snow plow to be used in heavy drifts or moved through narrow places.

In airport snow removal work particularly, the snow gathering wings 50 must be capable of rapid vertical adjustment so as to clear 10w ground obstacles. In order to accomplish this purpose there is provided a stirrup brace 14, Figure 2, which is of generally inverted V-shape. To the apex 15 of the V there is attached the piston rod 16 of an hydraulic cylinder 11. The bottom of the hydraulic cylinder is mounted on a. step 18 which is in turn mounted upon the main snow plow mechanism Ill. Accordingly, whenever the hydraulic cylinder 11 is supplied with hydraulic fluid under pressure, the inverted stirrup brace 14 is moved vertically to any desired position under the control of the operator. The hydraulic controls for cylinder 11 and for a similar cylinder for the right hand wing are in the operator cab of the snow plow vehicle.

The stirrup brace 14 is attached at its forward end to a vertical slide which is composed of two sleeves 8| and 82 arranged above and below the sleeve 55. The sleeves Bi and 82 are permanently attached together by the piece 83. Hence, as the stirrup brace 14 is moved vertically, the vertical slide 36 is likewise moved vertically and since the sleeves 8i and ,82 are on the upper and lower terminal edges of the sleeve 55, the latter is likewise moved vertically to the position determined by stirrup 14. Hence, by adjusting the position of the hydraulic cylinder H, the operator may instantly move the entire snow gathering wing 5G to any desired vertical position with reference to ground level.

In order that the wing 50 may be adequately braced at any selected vertical elevation, the stirrup brace 14 is attached at its rear end to a similar bracket generally designated which is likewise composed of a pair of sleeves 9i and 92 solidly attached together by member 93. As the member 95 is moved up and down by the stirrup brace 14, this accordinyly moves the sleeve 65 vertically to positions which always correspond 1 to the positions of sleeve 55 on which the snow gathering wing is mounted. Therefore, the toggle attachment is always maintained level, regardless of its height and the angular position of the toggle and the snow-gathering wing 50 therefore does not vary as it is moved up and down.

If desired, the attachment 10 of the link 69 may be by an easily fractured bolt or wooden plug so that the toggle 606l will be released in the event the snow gathering wing 50 moves against any solid obstacle.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it

a, is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the specific embodiments herein except as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a snow removal apparatus of the casting type having a rotary snow-casting mechanism, the improvement comprising a snow gathering wing extending laterally and forwardly of said snow-casting mechanism, means mounting said wing for direct vertical movement, said means consisting of a forwardly positioned vertical slide means, and a rearwardly positioned vertical slide means, and means for hinged movement about a vertical axis adjacent the edge of said snow-casting mechanism, said last named means including a pair of toggle links pivoted together an connected to the outward end of said wing and the rear slide means respectively, said toggle links being held in an angular position relative to each other by means of a removable link connecting the toggle pivot and the forward slide means.

2. In a snow removal apparatus of the casting type having a rotary snow-casting mechanism, the improvement comprising a vertical pivot slide mounted alongside the snow-castin mechanism adjacent the snow introducing edge thereof, a second vertical slide mounted on the snow-casting mechanism adjacent the first slide but spaced rearwardly in respect to the direction of movement of the mechanism during operation, a snow gathering wing mounted on the first slide for pivotal and vertical sliding movement, a slider mounted on the second slide, a brace from the slider to the snow gathering win for maintaining it in a forward and sideward extending position and means including a solid link connected to the snow gathering wing and to the slider for simultaneously moving the snow gathering wing and slider vertically.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 further characterized in that the brace comprises a pair of toggle limbs pivoted together and means is provided for maintaining the toggle links in predetermined bracing and folding positions for maintainin the snow gathering wing in snow gathering and folded positions.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 further characterized in that the means for moving the snow gathering wing and slider vertically includes a hydraulic cylinder connected to the link for movin the latter vertically.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 further character ized in that the means for moving the snow gathering wing and slider vertically includes a hydraulic cylinder connected to the snow gathering wing and slider together with a source of hydraulie pressure and operator control means located at a remote operator station on the mechanism. 6. In a snow removal apparatus of the snow gathering and casting type havin fixed gathering plow and a rotary mechanism for engaging and casting the gathered snow therefrom, the improvement comprising a pair of vertical slides mounted in the apparatus at one side thereof,

one slide being adjacent the edge of the fixed snow gathering plow and the other slider being displaced rearwardly in respect to the direction of motion of the apparatus during use, a first slider mounted on the forward slide and a second slider mounted on the rearward slide, a link fixedly connected to both sliders so that the link and both sliders are movable as a unit, a hydraulic mechanism connected to the link and the snow removal apparatus for moving the link and sliders vertically, a wing pivotally connected at one end to the first slider and a brace connected to the second slider and to the wing for holding the wing in a forwardly and laterally extending position, said Wing and brace being thereby vertically movable with the sliders and link as the latter is moved.

ARCHIE 0. WILLIAMSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,522,340 Stadig Jan. 6, 1925 1,673,457 Jensen June 12, 1928 1,732,792 Curtis Oct. 22, 1929 1,889,667 Klauer Nov. 29, 1932 1,956,007 Davin et al. Apr. 24, 1934 2,390,421 Caclwell Dec. 4, 1945 Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,504,774 April 18, 1950 ARCHIE O. WILLIAMSON It is hereby certified that name of the assignee in the above numbered patent was erroneously described and specified as Wm. Bros. Boiler 8: ltlenufecturing Co. whereas said name should have been desoribed and specified as Wm. Bros Boiler ch Manufacturing 00.; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this 001- isagion therein that the same may conform to the record of the ease in the Patent Signed and sealed this 22nd day of August, A. D. 1950.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Oommissianer of Paten'ts. 

